UPT Army
The United Pokemon Types Army is the land branch of the armed forces of the United Pokemon Types. The Army is the largest of the services in terms of overall manpower, although it is second in active members (as opposed to reservists) and in budget to the UPT Space Force. It is charged with a variety of duties, principally the defense of Zealandia against attackers but also offensive operations either on or off Earth, often working in conjunction with the UPT Navy and the Space Force to deploy to far-flung locations. Infantry Traditionally the backbone of any Army, the infantry in the UPT Army remains the largest combat arm. The past practice of having units homogenous with respect to species simplified training, but often left significant weaknesses. Current practice is to have units designed for specific roles, without mandating homogeneity of species - though creating extra challenges in training and utilising groups of people with highly varied physical ability, the result is an infantry force better able to cope with varied conditions. With species capable of land, sky, sea, subterrain, and even space and cyberspace operation the infantry of the UPT Army is galaxy-leading in breadth of capability. Fireteam The basic element of the infantry is the four-mon fireteam, commanded by a Corporal or Lance Corporal. In a rifle fireteam the NCO and one rifleman carry assault rifles, one of whom will also have an attached grenade launcher, while an automatic rifleman carries a SAW and a marksman carries an accurised battle rifle. Section All infantry sections have 8 members. For a rifle section, it is two fireteams, designated "Papa" and "Mike" commanded by the Corporal and Lance Corporal respectively. In an anti-aerospace section, a Super Pulse laser weapon is carried and served by a crew of three, while a further two mon carry a Dual Screens shielding system. The remaining three members employ MANPADS. A machine gunner section has two fireteams, one with a heavy machine gun and the other with automatic grenade launcher, each requiring a two-mon crew, while two mon carry RPCs and two SAWs. The choice of weapons is intended to provide maximum firepower, but has come under criticism for excessively hampering the section's manouverability, criticism rejected by the UPT's tacticians on theoretical grounds but as yet untested in combat. Platoon A rifle platoon comprises three rifle sections, an 8-mon anti-aerospace section, and a medic-engineer, commanded by a Lieutenant with a Sergeant, for a total strength of 35 mon. The integration of an anti-aerospace unit at the platoon level is a key feature of the UPT infantry forces, in recognition of the extent to which orbital strikes are employed in warfare. The anti-aerospace sections allow their platoons to take the fight to hostile aircraft and spacecraft. The soldiers of a rifle platoon are often chosen from their company based on physical abilities, and designated based on such, for example "Fast Platoon" or "Aero Platoon". In a heavy weapons platoon, three machine gunner sections are joined by two two-mon mortar crews and four soldiers equipped with anti-armour missiles, under command like with a rifle platoon. Company The company is a unit of particular importance in the UPT Army, as it is the largest unit for which bonds of comradeship exist between all enlisted members. Its overall size is thus constrained by Dunbar's number. A rifle company is commanded by a Major supported by a Captain. The company headquarters also includes the two most senior NCOs in the company, the Company sergeant major and Company quartermaster sergeant, who have responsibility for keeping the company supplied, a clerk, a military police officer, and a tutor. Besides the headquarters, a rifle company comprises three rifle platoons, and a heavy weapons platoon for anti-armour operations - such capability being omitted from rifle platoons in favour of the anti-aerospace sections - and other tasks demanding more firepower, for a total strength of 147 mon. Batallion It is at the batallion level that the size of units in the UPT Army starts to climb compared to 20th century military practice, in line with the much larger overall forces deployable by a single Nation with over twice what was once the entire population of the known Universe. Regiment In the wake of the Consortium War, the UPT Army was restructured to have regiments based on intended role, rather than of a single species, commensurate with the abolition of the Type Armies. The regiment is the largest permanent unit in the UPT Army, with an infantry regiment having a strength of around twenty thousand soldiers. Regiments include: *Terrenian Regiment, elite specialists in underground warfare. *Digging Regiment, specialists in underground warfare. *Burrowers, specialists in underground warfare. *Mineshaft Regiment, specialists in underground warfare. *Smeargle Regiment, elite generalists. *Paratroopers, elite forces deployed from space. (Not all regiments are elite, its is merely the case that the best of the best are often the first choice for deployment.) Category:UPT